Sunday, 17 March 2013

PIA News Dispatch - Saturday, March 16, 2013

Aquino inaugurates Solaire Resort and Casino in
Paranaque City

President Benigno S. Aquino III led the
inauguration on Saturday of the Solaire Resort and Casino in Parañaque City
expecting the facility to contribute to further increase tourist arrivals in
the country.

Countries in the region, such as Macau and
Singapore are always competing for bigger pieces of the gaming and
entertainment industry. And the presence of Solaire in the country is a
positive proof that Filipinos can strike productive balance between work and
play, the President said in his message during the event.

The chief executive expressed his gratitude to
the investors for putting their money in the Philippines noting that
businessmen see today the country’s economy brimming with optimism and new life
and at the same time consider the Philippines as a world-class tourist
destination.

Such initiative will have significant
contribution to the national economy as it creates 4,000 jobs for Filipinos,
the President said.

“These jobs will also take on a multiplier
effect. Since the people you employ will become empowered consumers, they will
be spending more money on groceries, schools, and other products and services,
in their own way stimulating the economy and encouraging further the growth of
industries that will in turn create even more jobs,” he said.

Recent developments make it more favorable to
the country’s tourism sector, President Aquino said. For instance, he said that
in two years, the Philippines has jumped 12 spots—from 94th to 82nd—in the World
Economic Forum Travel and Tourism Index.

In fact, the President said that in the World
Economic Forum’s 2013 report, it ranked the Philippines first in the world in
government spending on tourism as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP),
demonstrating the government’s determination to enhance the tourism industry.

This commitment is yielding positive results, he
said. In 2011, the Philippines recorded 37.5 million domestic travelers,
exceeding its 2016 target by two million, the President noted. The Aquino
administration targets to achieve 10 million tourist arrivals in the country in
2016.

Due to the continued influx of tourists, the
Department of Tourism has revised its target for domestic tourism in 2016 to
56.1 million. Furthermore, he said that in 2012, the country recorded 4.3
million international visitors, the first time it breached the 4 million mark.

With the lifting of the International Civil
Aviation Organization (ICAO) of the Significant Safety Concerns for the
country, the President said it would mean more boost to the sector.

Because of this development, the Philippines is
moving closer to resuming the country’s aviation operations in Europe and the
United States, he said.

The President said he also signed into law
Republic Act No. 10378, which removes the 3 percent common carriers tax for all
international air and shipping carriers on receipts and income derived from
transporting passengers.

The law also exempts these carriers from paying
the Philippine billings tax derived from the carriage of passengers, cargo, or
mail. With the signing, the law will encourage more foreign carriers to expand
their operations in the Philippines thus creating more jobs, bringing in more
tourists, and allowing for the growth of the tourism industry, he said.

“Let me reaffirm ---the Philippines now has a
government fully committed to pursuing both the prosperity of our people, and
the prosperity of those who have placed their confidence in us,” the President
said.

“Rest assured, in the coming years, we will give
not just tourists, but businessmen like you, even more reason to believe that,
truly, it is more fun in the Philippines.” PND (as)

Palace welcomes Germany’s decision to hire
Filipino nurses

Malacanang welcomed the plan of Germany to open
its doors to Filipino nurses saying it will create additional options to
Filipino nurses looking for employment overseas.

Germany would be another market that will open
its door for Filipino nurses in addition to traditional destinations like the
US, Britain, Australia and Middle East.

As countries like Germany starts to give new
opportunities to Filipino nurses, Valte said the Aquino administration will
continue addressing the surplus of nurses in the country through various
programs.

“Marami tayong mga guma-graduate na nurse, ang
pamahalaan naman locally, ang ginagawa natin is that meron ‘yung tinatawag
nating RN Heals Program and that gives the training ground and the experience
for our nurses if they want to go abroad and to earn a living,” Valte said.

With Germany’s announcement of its plan to hire
Filipino nurses, the Philippines and Germany are set to sign an agreement that
will pave the way for the deployment of Filipino health workers guaranteeing
professional training and ensuring a healthy work environment.

The agreement will ensure that Filipino nurses
will have adequate linguistic and professional preparation to work in Germany
as part of a “triple win formula” agreed by both countries.

The deployment agreement is part of the enhanced
labor cooperation between the Philippines and Germany following a discussion in
Manila last month. PND (as)

Assistance of European Union to boost government
fight against human trafficking, Palace says

The P80 million assistance of the European Union
to the Philippines and other countries intended to fight human trafficking will
be a significant contribution to end the menace, the Palace said on Saturday.

“It’s important that we get support for our
efforts against human trafficking. As you can see, unti-unti we have been
making progress on that front,” Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte
said in a radio interview over government-run dzRB Radyo ng Bayan on Saturday.

The country remains in the Tier 2 status of the
US State Department’s Human Trafficking Report. The Philippines was previously
being considered to be in the black list.

“We continue to press on that front. The
Inter-Agency Committee Against Trafficking has been leading the efforts and I
understand also from the Department of Social Welfare and Development that
we’ve been making progress when it comes to the cases that have been filed,”
Valte said.

The European Union extended its P80 million
support Friday through the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The
EU will provide P86 million or 80 percent of the financing for a regional
project aimed at improving regular migration flows from targeted countries
including the Philippines.

The two-year project is the continuation of
other projects implemented between 2006-2010 aimed at facilitating legal
migration and promoting regional dialogue on safe and legal migration.

The objectives for the Philippines include
supporting the government’s programs to encourage ethical practices in job
hiring, developing migrant resource centers, and intensifying campaigns against
illegal recruitment, trafficking and irregular migration, especially to Europe.

At least P16 million will directly benefit the
Philippines under this project which will be implemented by the IOM in
cooperation with UN Women. The main partner of the migration center's officet
in the Philippines is the Department of Labor and Employment.

The project also builds on the Campaign Against
Illegal Recruitment, Trafficking and Irregular Migration (CAIRTIM) implemented
by the IOM with the DOLE and the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration
(POEA).

It will target four of the country’s poorest
provinces which include Masbate, Antique, Maguindanao and Agusan del Sur. PND
(as)